To celebrate next weekend’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Nike have released two new footwear styles to mark the occasions. But why is one dubbed the ‘Nike SB Dunk Black and Tan’?
While Nike fans will doubtless want to get their hands on the Nike SB Dunk High ‘Guinness’ runners, we can’t imagine fans having the same desire for their St Patrick’s Day counterparts, the Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Quickstrike ‘Black and Tan’, featured above.
The Black and Tan is part of Nike’s ongoing beverage-inspired releases – including a rare ‘Heineken’ shoe and a Dos Equis SB Zoom – and according to Nike, is inspired by the term for a two-hit combination of a light pale ale and a darker ale, usually Guinness.
While the Black and Tan is a popular drink around the world, it has something of an image problem in Ireland due to the unavoidable association it has with the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Forces thatwere sent here in the 1920s and were given the same nickname after committing a series of atrocities against the Irish civilian population.
The furore is similar to that of a Ben & Jerry ice cream which was also to be referred to as having a ‘Black and Tan’ flavour. The company eventually apologised and the release was only available in the US.
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